Glass decorating



y 9, 1940- L. R. GASPER 2,207,585

' GLASS DECORATING Filed March 9, i940 INVENTOR. Y

Leslerli. Gaguer,

Patented July 9, 1940 UNITED STATES] P TEN o i-icr.

' GLAss nEoonA'riNG Lester RfGaspcr, Chicago, Ill. Application March 9,1940, Serial No. 323,236 2"Claims. (o1. 4o -1s5) The invention disclosed herein relates to the decorating of glass and other transparent materials, particularly such as used for clock dials, radio dials, instrument dials, signs and the like.

i 'Iheobjects of the invention are to accomplish embodiments of the invention but such illustra- )tions are primarily by way of disclosure and are to be so understood} as the actual physical structure may be modified and changed in various ways, all within the true spirit and broad scope of the invention. r

Fig. 1 is a face view of a panel of glass or other transparent material having numbers applied thereto after the manner of and incorporating features of the invention. I

Fig. '2 is a sectional view as online 2-4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the panel illustrating the effect of the representation on the back of the panel appearing through the transparent material and merging with the 'represe'n-' 5 tation on the front to give the figures a sense of thickness, as though extending through the glass.

Fig. 4 is a broken sectional view of a modified 7 form of the invention.

) In the several views, I designates a layer or sheet of transparent material, such as glass or one of the plastics, for instance, Celluloid, Pyralin, Cellophane, Vinylite, Lucite andjthe like.

The decorative character, which may be a nu- 5 meral or any other representation is made up of a design 8, on the face of the transparent sheet and a correspondingly shaped design 9, on the.

} The larger size of the rear figure magnifies this impression, giving the character a sense of solidity, as though having a thickness extending from the front to the back of the glass,

The third dimensional effect usually appears 5 to be best obtained by having the figure on the front wholly opaque and-darker in color than the corresponding figure on the back.

. The figures may be applied to the front and back faces of the-transparent sheet by paint- 10 me. printing, lithographing, screening or otherwise, and the front and back figures each may be in one or more colors.

, The imprinting of the figures may be with cold colors, or in the case of glassfor instance, with mineral colors which may be fused or fired, thus to enhance the brilliancy of the decoration and add greater durability.

In some cases, two imprints may be applied on the back, one over the other, and one larger so than the other to produce a deeper effect.

While a flat sheet is shown, the sheet may be curved, such as with concave orconvex surfaces or be angular in cross-section. Transparent sheets may be decorated as described and made up for various forms of instrument dials, for radio devices, clocks, signs and various other'purpo'ses.

Depending on the use, the decorated sheets may be lighted or unlighted and the lighting may be direct, indirect or diffused lighting from the back or edge lighting may be used, the invention lending itself .to all these and many other various purposes and modes of use.

In some instances, the figure at the back may be applied by imprinting the same on a piece .of paper and adhering the paper to the back of the glass or other transparent medium.

An opaque translucent or other background may be used over or around the figure or figures 40 on the back and similarly an opaque or translucent facing may be used about the figure or figures on; the front, provided sufficient space is left about such figure or figures to expose portions of the transparent glass medium between the front and back figures.

- blasted on the back at l0, leaving clear outlines I6 the difference in the width of figures on the front and on the back may, to some extent, be" governed by the thickness of the transparent layer. For most purposes, the back figures should beenough larger than the front figure to be actually-visible about the edges of the front figure, thus to give a sense of perspective when looked atfrom directly in front at a normal viewing distance and to ap-.-

near as extending solidly from front to back through the transparent material, when viewed at the different angles which might be usual to such an object.

The perspective, cameo effect produced by this invention, causes the numbers or other delineations on a dial or instrument front to stand out with greater distinctness and the invention therefore has utilitarian, as well as purely ornamental value. Requiring only the one sheet of transparent material and-simply the imprinting of the same character on opposite faces the invention is particularly inexpensive and adapted to many uses. By properly contrasting the colors or shades of the front and back figures, many artistic effects can be produced. Frosting the surface of the glass can be used to produce many interesting effects. The treatmentmay be governed to some extent by the manner in which the article is used and according to whether it is unlighted or to be illuminated in some way. In all instances, the effect is of the design on the backappearingthrough the intervening glass or other transparent material as a perspective more or less solid continuation of the front figure.

In another form of the invention, the figures are applied on curved glass, or other transparent material, such as on convexly curved clock and radio dials. The curvature of the transparent layer magnifies, accentuates or exaggerates the cameo effect, making it the moreapparent, viewed from any position. With these curved dials, particularly when lighted from the back, it has been found advantageous to make the figures on-the-back of the glass darker in color and substantially opaque-and the figures on the front lighter in color and more or less trans lucent, Usually in such case also, it is considered best to have the rear figures slightly size than the front figures.

What'is claimed is:

larger in 1. As a new article of manufacture, an instrument dial or the like, comprising a single layer of substantially transparent material, de-

signs of corresponding outline in registration on the front and back of said substantially trans-- parent layer, the design on theback being of larger outline than the design on the front of said layer and sufiiciently larger in'extent to be visible about the edges of the design on the front when viewed from directly in front of the article and said smaller design on the front of said layer being darker and more of an opaque character than said larger design on the back of the layer to create the effect of the front design extending solidly through the intervening substantially transparent material and the back design as forming a coextensive rearward enlargement of the front design.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a curved layer of substantially transparent material, designs of corresponding outline in registration on the front and the back of said curved substantially transparent layer and the design on the back being larger in size than. the design on the front of said curved layer to appear through the intervening curved substantially transparent material magnified by the curvature of said intervening substantially transparent material as an enlarged continuation of the design on the front of the layer.

LESTER R; GASPER. 

